Who are they now? - Companies from the golden years
Thread Starter
Who are they now? - Companies from the golden years
Its easy to assume that the well known companies from the 1930s, 40s and 50s just faded away or went bust. The truth is though that many are now known by other names and are still active in aircraft or other types of engineering.
Some, such as Short Brothers of Belfast, who have become Bombardier, are familiar to most of us. How about a thread which captures the formerly iconic names in their current form?
A couple to get the ball rolling:
Boulton & Paul of Wolverhampton (Defiants, gun turrets etc.) - Now part of Moog, making actuators.
Gloster Aircraft (Gamecock, Gladiator, E28/39, Meteor) - Became part of BAe Systems although Esterline Darchem, make thermal insulation parts for Airbus & Rolls-Royce on the Brockworth site.
Some, such as Short Brothers of Belfast, who have become Bombardier, are familiar to most of us. How about a thread which captures the formerly iconic names in their current form?
A couple to get the ball rolling:
Boulton & Paul of Wolverhampton (Defiants, gun turrets etc.) - Now part of Moog, making actuators.
Gloster Aircraft (Gamecock, Gladiator, E28/39, Meteor) - Became part of BAe Systems although Esterline Darchem, make thermal insulation parts for Airbus & Rolls-Royce on the Brockworth site.
Last edited by Mechta; 9th Dec 2017 at 13:52.
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I was going to ask if Moog had any relationship to the synthesizers, but then remembered Google, and discovered that the founder of the controls company was a cousin of the synth inventor. Which brings to mind why George Antheil shared the patent for frequency skipping with Hedy Lamarr: she had the idea, but he had the technical know-how for implementation from setting up the controls for a group of automated pianos for one of his avant-garde music projects. Another thread might be bizarre connections.
Some have also fragmented, for example Dunlop is now Meggit in Coventry, and other places, but still Dunlop Aircraft tyres in Birmingham.
Folland in Hamble is now GE Aviation.
Dowty Rotol in Cheltenham is now GE Aviation.
Dowty Rotol in Gloucester is now Safran.
Westland in Yeovil is now Leonardo.
Vickers Armstrong at Hawarden is now Airbus.
Bristol at Filton is now Airbus.
English Electric at Warton and Samlesbury are now BAE Systems.
Shorts at Rochester is now BAE Systems.
There are many many more...
Folland in Hamble is now GE Aviation.
Dowty Rotol in Cheltenham is now GE Aviation.
Dowty Rotol in Gloucester is now Safran.
Westland in Yeovil is now Leonardo.
Vickers Armstrong at Hawarden is now Airbus.
Bristol at Filton is now Airbus.
English Electric at Warton and Samlesbury are now BAE Systems.
Shorts at Rochester is now BAE Systems.
There are many many more...
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Fairey
Now Westland/Leonardo, FBM Babcock Marine, Spectris plc at Egham making instruments and controls , and WFEL (formerly Williams Fairey Engineering Limited), the latter manufacturing portable bridges.
Now Westland/Leonardo, FBM Babcock Marine, Spectris plc at Egham making instruments and controls , and WFEL (formerly Williams Fairey Engineering Limited), the latter manufacturing portable bridges.
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IIRC the Honda factory at South Marston was originally a Vickers Armstrong shadow factory which last built electrical wiring looms for the BAC 1-11.
Almost as bizarre is that a significant portion of the British Aircraft Industry is alive & well and living in Wichita, Kansas. Apart from the many engineers who came across the pond in support of the Challenger (and later CRJ) program, several ex-Shorts engineers came for the Learjet 45 and never went back.
Beech took over building the HS125 so they offered anyone from Chester who wanted to move a job in Wichita. When, a few years later, Airbus came back to Chester looking for the old Wing Group to design the A380 wing, they were informed that they were now in Kansas! Which is why one of Airbus' Design Offices is in downtown Wichita.
Almost as bizarre is that a significant portion of the British Aircraft Industry is alive & well and living in Wichita, Kansas. Apart from the many engineers who came across the pond in support of the Challenger (and later CRJ) program, several ex-Shorts engineers came for the Learjet 45 and never went back.
Beech took over building the HS125 so they offered anyone from Chester who wanted to move a job in Wichita. When, a few years later, Airbus came back to Chester looking for the old Wing Group to design the A380 wing, they were informed that they were now in Kansas! Which is why one of Airbus' Design Offices is in downtown Wichita.
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Er - No! Noordyne had a separate building on the north side of Cartierville at least up until CYCV closed. AFAIK they never were part of Canadair.
One of the last uses for the north side Flight Shed, which may have once been their factory, was for the prototype CRJ-100 (A/C 7001) of which I was one of the test team.
One of the last uses for the north side Flight Shed, which may have once been their factory, was for the prototype CRJ-100 (A/C 7001) of which I was one of the test team.
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I was in part of the same office mid 60's through to late 70's after my apprenticeship. Originally tool design and involved in early Airbus and Concorde. The main office then went into "commercial" design and amalgamated other Vickers design offices (Hydraulics/Printing machines/Nuclear equipment and goodness knows what else).
